


Flipwizard

by BoyFromJupiter



Category: The Adventure Zone (Podcast)
Genre: Avi and Brad are his coworkers, F/F, M/M, Magnus works as an interior designer, Taako does his own weird thing, modern day AU, they are all very sweet
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-03-12
Updated: 2017-03-12
Packaged: 2018-10-03 09:48:43
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,995
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/10241909
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/BoyFromJupiter/pseuds/BoyFromJupiter
Summary: Magnus is overwhelmed by a certain 'wizard's performance and doesn’t know how to deal with stuff. Avi helps a little bit. Brad is worried about dental work. Might write more of this?





	

Would this ever become easier? Would there be a time when it would just pass him by, a fleeting moment of clouds covering the sun before returning to the good old feeling of summer. Maybe. He didn't know. Some things had changed of course. This was a different city, a different life, there were people around him, having his back, knowing what it meant when his eyes looked dark in the morning and the shadows on his face seemed to hold on a little tighter than usually. 

So, he wasn't alone today. On this day. Avi's elbow pressed against his own as the man moved to welcome another bottle of beer from the waiter, opening it up with his teeth like an absolute idiot. "You ought to stop doing that, you won't have any teeth left when you hit your fifties.", commented Brad from the other side, his brows knit together in the typically sincere worry right above his thickly rimmed glasses. Avi only laughed and gently shoved at Brad's arm while taking a swig from the bottle.  
"Don't make that face, come on! I'm fine!"

Yes, Magnus was not alone in here today and it felt good, healing almost. The rambling of his friends passed by like a gentle river, only mixed with the taste of his whiskey, the dull ache between his lungs and the swirling sensation in his head that was getting stronger hour by hour. Seemed like he still wouldn't make it through this without ending up completely drunk - at least he had someone to watch out for him this year. 

"It is a serious risk you're taking, you know how expensive dental work is and even though it's covered on your insurance plan you should-"  
"Magnus, Magnus please tell him to shut up, if he starts to go on about work now, my brain will literally melt and come out of my ears."  
They got a tired smile out of him and he gently swung his glass in his palm, watching the ice dance on the amber surface of the liquid, clinking together again and again and again. He longed to be floating like that - but for that he'd need a few more drinks. 

"Come on boys…behave.", he mumbled softly and then finally downed the rest of his whiskey, which earned him another one of Brad's concerned looks, but no comments were made. They knew. Today was the day and they knew better than to try and give him advice. They were there and that was all that mattered.   
"Anyways.", Avi started, restlessly playing with the bottle cap of his beer, shoving it around on their table, back and forth. "Everything's set up for next week's fishing trip, I think I can even get us another tent, so Carey and Killian could come with us too. It would be-"  
Magnus' attention trailed off, pulling his eyes over the dimly lit landscape of his favorite bar, to the right where there was a small stage. Some people had gathered at the tables right at the front and some staff was setting up a table. Magnus slowly slid his fingers inside the whiskey glass on the table, without even looking at it, touching the leftover ice in it, the cold impulse to his skin serving as an anchor, a grounding sting. It was ridiculously hard not to think. He was so painfully aware of that in this very moment. A gentle static seemed to press onto his whole body, a flickering, swinging sensation, unreal. The lights dimmed even more. And then, the crack of a microphone.

Someone had appeared on the stage, standing behind the table that was now the setup surface of a few confusing devices and a Microkorg synthesizer. The person was fiddling with a few buttons, but looked completely relaxed, uncaring towards the fact that there were quite a few people looking on. The musician was a short, round guy, wearing a ridiculously big, floppy hat that cast solid shadows over his face, making him look like something out of another dimension. The only thing peeking out of the inky dark was a long braid of messy, washed out lavender hair, and a bead necklace. Two taps to the microphone, then he leaned in and mumbled into it.  
"Hey, I'm Flipwizard, what's up."  
And then he just started to play. A harmony of tones rose over the room like a wave of warm water. Softly swinging, vibrating, it spread in the whole bar. Pleasant rays of sunlight in the form of sound. And then raindrops in gentle rhythms, falling into the empty space, repeating, repeating, swinging. Magnus pulled his fingers out of the glass and closed his fist around his icy fingers, staring to the stage. The quality of the music was surprising, the way it hit home with him was…strange. Maybe Brad was saying something, maybe Avi was laughing. He didn't hear it. Magnus' mind was filled with music and with the music there were colours. And then the stranger on stage started to sing. A soft, warm voice, stringing words onto a fragile thread like the shiny beads around his neck. And his fingers slipped over the synth in complete control, back and forth between switches, buttons and keys, a surreal little dance, elegant and precise and with such a…otherworldly result.   
Magnus forgot about the whiskey he had thought about before. He forgot about the ache beneath his heart. He…forgot.

At some point he had gotten up to get a better look. Somehow he hadn't dared to approach the stage completely, feeling a strange awe weakening his knees with surprising strength, so he stuck to the middle grounds, awkwardly lingering in the dark. Neither Brad nor Avi had tried to stop the man and so Magnus was leaning against one of the wooden support beams, bracing himself against the trusty material, while taking in the show.  
The musician did not talk much between the different songs, he just took a sip from a bottle every now and then and commented applause with 'cool cool cool' before going right back to the next song. And the next. And next. They all blurred together, weaved into a tight, colorful carpet, all made by those quick hands and his voice. He sang of magic, of things out of another world, painted a vibrant picture from a faraway place and Magnus felt at home, felt centered. It spread like a warm blanket.

At some point the 'wizard' leaned back his head. The spotlights spread out, wiping the shadows away from under the broad brim of his hat, lighting up what was beneath. Magnus held his breath. The musician seemed to be in a state of trance, his eyes were closed. His lips were curved into a content smile, giving free view onto a small tooth gap. Curls fell down to his brows as he moved and then the moment passed, shadow reclaimed him as he lowered his upper body to lean towards the microphone.

The rhythm of the bass was replacing the beat of Magnus' heart at this point, the vibration of the notes surged through his whole body, washing the gray from his veins.   
Cascades of music carried him away to another place where things were maybe not quite as heavy and not quite as painful. This was as close to floating as he'd get today.

Eventually, after an eternity, it ended and Magnus felt deflated, strangely exhausted. The musician, Flipwizard like he had called himself, thanked the audience and then started to clear up the table, unplugging cables, rolling them up again. Magnus was still buzzing somehow. So much even, that he didn't notice Avi appearing by his side.  
"Hey man."  
Magnus twitched and turned his head, looking down at his friend who was eying him with raised brows and a careful smile. He had been standing there for almost a full minute already.   
"Didn't know you were into that kind of sound."  
"Mh…"  
He hummed and slowly rubbed his beard, glancing to the stage again.   
"Me neither."  
Avi followed his gaze and they both quietly watched the artist bagging up his equipment. Nothing was said, but many things were thought.  
"You…should go talk to him.", Avi eventually offered very carefully, pushing his hands into the pockets of his jeans, turning a bit, probably to give Brad a look. Magnus didn't notice it, he just awkwardly shifted, rubbing his palm along the supporting beam, the warm wooden texture.  
"You think so?"  
"Yeah, man. He seems like a cool guy, I mean. You're a people person, you'll be fine, Mag."  
"I don't even know…I mean what would I say…it's…this is…it's stupid, Avi."  
"Don't worry, brother! Just go up there. Tell him you liked it or something."  
Avi patted him on the back, gently shoving at Magnus' big frame until the man moved, insecurely making steps through the room as if walking out onto thin ice.

He felt terribly awkward approaching the stage, it was like wading through water, a clammy weird sea that reached up to his chest, but he still made it, somehow. Maybe he bumped into a table and a few chairs, he wasn't sure, and he definitely stumbled while walking up the stairs to the left. (Avi would later tell him that he had looked like a drunk person walking around a ship's deck.)  
Nervously, Magnus then peeked behind the curtain that covered the side of the stage that lead to a little backstage area. There he was, with his back to Magnus and without his hat, rolling up a cable in big elegant coils around his arm, slow and relaxed, in absolutely no hurry. Oxygen seemed to have fled this realm all of the sudden and Magnus was painfully aware of how sweaty his palms were.   
"Hey.", he said. It was the most clumsy thing he had ever said, probably. It felt like a pebble falling out of his mouth and the regret was instant and vicious.   
But it had an effect.The musician turned around. His eyes looked dark in the dim light, but they were still striking and immediately wandered all over Magnus' body, completely unashamed. Running suddenly seemed like a really good idea - luckily his legs did not comply at all and so he just made an awkward side step. Silence.

"Got lost, big boy?", the 'wizard' asked after a few terrible seconds and there was that smile again. This time it hit Magnus right in the guts. Oh man.   
"No.", he said carefully, his mouth feeling completely dry. He tried to figure out how words worked, how breathing was even a thing.  
"I…just wanted….I mean…your music. It was…..it was really good."   
The smile grew, the little tooth gap was fully visible and very prominent now. Magnus had never spent a second thought on anyone's teeth but this….  
"A fan, then. I see! You want an autograph? Bet I got a pen somewhere."  
Magnus could've sworn that his feet were sinking into the ground. He looked down to check, like a complete idiot.  
"No…no I…just…"  
What did he want!? Avi had sent him here, he hadn't even thought about what he wanted to say, let alone do when he was back here, face to face with this…no doubt, clearly magical being. It was all Avi's fault. He'd punch him for this, later. Yes he would.  
The musician placed the cable roll into a suitcase and then came closer. He was a quite a bit smaller than Magnus but made up for it with very bold fashion choices and a charisma that burned like the sun itself. And still…that grin. Again he was looked over from head to toe and it made him feel all kinds of things.   
"Okay then…how about you buy me a drink, bubula."  
Oh. Ohhhhh.  
Magnus nodded slowly.   
That…he could do.


End file.
